"It was quite a dark place" - Karun Nair opens up about the toughest phase of his career ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 Test series
Indian batter Karun Nair has said that the end of 2022 was a dark phase for him. The 33-year-old referred to the phase as harder than when he was not picked in the playing XI during the tour of England in 2018 and he had endured a lot emotionally, at that time.
The Delhi Capitals (DC) batter said that he was grateful to those who supported him in that phase.
"It was quite a dark place, end of 2022. Very emotional phase for me. The toughest time for me, even tougher than 2018. I am very grateful to everyone that has been part of my journey in the last 2-3 years, atleast," Nair told R Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
The right-hander admitted that he was feeling very weird about not having played the game for approximately 5-6 months. Nair also opened up about how meeting former India fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla helped play a role in him switching states from Karnataka to Vidarbha in first-class cricket.
"In the months where I was thinking about what to do, I didn't play cricket or any match for 5-6 months and it suddenly started feeling weird that I am not playing. I wanted to get out of home and play. I knew Canara Bank was going to play the DY Patil tournament. I reached out to Bharat Chipli and Mansoor Ali Khan, asking if I could come with them as a guest player."
"They said, 'yes for sure'. When I went there, I saw Mr. Abey Kuruvilla. I had known him from Under-19 days, he was a selector. I just went up to him and said, 'sir if you could please find me a team, it would be really helpful'. He said, 'yeah, yeah it will be done. Don't worry. We'll do something and you'll surely have a team'. Within a couple of weeks, he put me in touch with Prashant Vaidya and that is how it began," he said.
Karun Nair's move to Vidarbha proves to be a turning point in his career
Karun Nair switched states from Karnataka to Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 domestic season. That decision proved to be a turning point for the batter as he found his groove again with the bat.
Nair amassed 690 runs in 10 first-class matches with three fifties and two hundreds. He backed that season up with even better numbers in the 2024-25 domestic season, where he made 863 runs in nine matches, playing a pivotal role in Vidarbha winning the Ranji Trophy title.
Those exploits helped Nair find a place in both the India A and the India squad for the 2025 tour to England. Former India captain Anil Kumble had suggested that India should consider playing Nair at the number four spot, following the retirement of Virat Kohli.